Technology

NOKIA 810 INTERNET TABLET Samsung LN-T4061

T his Samsung
model is a
LCD television
that supports 1080
pixel resolution.
It has a freeze
button and picture-
in-picture for
T his new model from Nokia marks a new phase in
portable internet communication. It has the ability to
connect this pocket-sized device to the nearest Wi-Fi
watching content
from two different
sources-though
hotspot or over your Bluetooth mobile phone allows
not from two dif-
you to make internet calls; check your-email or watch
ferent channels.
the latest videos or update your blog using the device’s
It also carries a
slide-out keyboard along with its stunning touch screen.
headphone jack
It comes with built-in maps and satellite navigation and
and a USB port
an integrated GPS receiver which allows you to pinpoint
for viewing JPEG
your position and find a wide variety of points-of-inter-
image files and
ests. It is priced around Rs. 20,000.
listening to MP3s
from an exter-
nal device. The
remote is slightly
clumsy.

SONY XPERIA X1
T he model has
a high clarity
X peria represents Sony Ericsson’s first crack at a
Window mobile phone. It is a quad-band GSM phone
(good for making calls on worldwide GSM networks), and
level and impressive
motion scenes, with
less amounts of blur.
it supports 3.5G for speedy web surfing, video stream- HD resolutions upto
ing and file uploading. Wi-Fi is on board, as well as a 1080i are possible, HITACHI 37 LD9000TA
3.2-megapixel camera and a GPS (or GPS assisted by with 720p being
cell-tower triangulation). The centerpiece of the X1 is the best quality.
its three-inch WVGA screen that is 800 by 480 pixels, DVDs of movies and
compared to 480by 320 pixels for the iPhone’s 3.5inch animations both look
screen. The touch-sensitive screen features a series of strikingly clear as
Xpreria panels that will give you quick access to web sites, the contrast level
music, events and the like; running underneath will be and colour is very
Windows Mobile 6. Arc-slider design of the X1 slides open good. The price is
to reveal a full-QWERTY keypad. The Xperia X1 is slated just a little high, at
for release in the second half of the year. Rs. 87,000, but it is
worth it.
36 ed matrix MAY 2008

O verall the images look good. This one combines a freeze
button and picture-in-picture in the coolest way possible.
Press ‘Freeze’, and the TV goes into PiP mode, with the big
picture frozen and the little one continuing to display a live
feed. However, you can’t use PiP to watch two broadcast
channels. Rather than put the controls below or on the side as
most do these days, Sony places them on top of the unit. The
menus have been designed to look cool. The remote is very
long, which makes some buttons difficult to access.
SONY BRAVIA
40w3000
ed matrix MAY 2008
Technology
LENOVO Y510 SERIES
Home Theatre Notebook
LENOVO Y510 SERIES
L enovo recently unveiled its new, way-cool en-
tertainment notebook PC, the Y510 music and
movies with features such as a Dolby sound system,
built-in TV tuner, and face recognition for locked-down
security. The big plus is a Dolby 4.1 home theatre
speaker system for enhanced sound output for mov-
ies, videos, music and games. It is loaded with four
speakers and a subwoofer. The computer’s multi-
media features are accessed and controlled through
a sleek touch-sensitive pad that lets users operate
movies and music in a flexible manner. An in-built TV
tuner card helps ensure instant television connectivity
accentuating the multimedia experience.
The 15-inch monitor comes with a borderless screen.
The keyboard offers good feel and durability, inspired
by the ThinkPad keyboard, and an extended battery
management feature to customize user-specific bat-
tery usage patterns.
Western Digital’s Green-
Power Hard Drives
T he company announced its energy-conscious family
of enterprise hard drives. The WD RE2 GreenPower
(GP) family offers capacities of 500, 750 GB and 1 TB.
Each WD RE2-GP hard drive consumes an average of
4-5 watts less than competitive hard drives. IntelliPower,
IntelliSeek and IntelliPark are technologies that enable
the WD RE2-GP platform.
37
Book Review
Art accomadates what
historiography missed
T
he role of an individual in shap-
ing the history of a nation has
always been a subject of debate.
National history is often regard-
ed as ‘the truth’ about the im-
portant events and lives of public figures in
the country. These representations of facts,
which are recorded by historiographers,
claim an objective tone. But where does the
individual, who is a social product, figure in
this historical record? Does the writing of an
ordinary person about his society, life and
Rohinton Mistry’s experiences have a bearing on the national
history? Individual writing and institutional
A Fine Balance histories do have a point of intersection.
Oprah’s Book Club Each individual perception becomes impor-
tant as this point of view will alter the outlook
to what happened in the past.
Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance is also
one such individual perception of the Emer-
gency imposed in India in 1975. The novel
revises institutional history which has, for a
long time, neglected the lives of the com-
Mistry, in his ‘A Fine
mon people. Diasporic writers, like Mistry,
Balance’, achieves a
often face the criticism of not being aware
‘fine balance’ between
of several socio-political, economical and
national history and religious intricacies of the country they write
the society in which about. But Mistry, in his ‘A Fine Balance’,
individuals live. successfully overcomes this hurdle and
achieves a ‘fine balance’ between national
history and the society in which individuals
live.
The novel pitches four characters at its cen-
tre – Dina Dalal, Maneck Kohlah, Ishvar
Darji and Omprakash Darji. The characters
live in their own world of despair and neces-
sity brings them all under one roof. Initially,
the four people are ‘unwilling co-inhabit-
ants’ of a crammed apartment in crowded
Bombay. Dina, a widow, wants to live inde-
pendent of her dominating brother. Maneck,
38 ed matrix MAY 2008
a student, takes lodging with Dina. Ishvar
and Omprakash, victims of racial discrimina-
tion, join the household as employees of the
small-scale tailoring business which she toils
to run for her living. Despite the barriers cre-
ated by their social, economic and religious
status, a bond develops among them. They
realize that they are not alone but do have
other shoulders to rest their burdens upon.
But their dream of ‘a one happy family’ is
shattered with the declaration of Emergency.
On a trip to their hometown, the tailors are
forced to undergo vasectomy. The upper
caste enemies of Ishvar and Omprakash en-
list their names for a mass vasectomy pro-
gramme. Ishvar is infected by the un-steril-
ized instruments used in vasectomy and this
leads to the amputation of his legs. Unable
to continue their profession as tailors, Ishvar
and Omprakash are reduced to beggars. Ma-
neck leaves the country to take up a job and
returns after a few years to witness the fate of
his friends. Dina, who has now turned half-
blind, lives with her not-so-caring brother.
Maneck, unable to bear the reality of destiny,
commits suicide. This novel is a reflection of
many such tragedies that have happened but
gone unvoiced in the pages of history.
Rohinton Mistry’s novel focuses on the point
of intersection of the two lines - public his-
tory and private history. Artistic expressions
of any historic period represent the silences
of the marginalized. A Fine Balance, too,
describes what might have happened to un-
known citizens in the nooks and corners of the
country in 1975. It is a novel which brilliantly
makes its readers realize that the boundaries
of literature expand tremendously when Art
tries to accommodate what Historiography
has missed.
Supala Pandiarajan
Te c h n o l o g y

A Problem of plenty laptop has, the

L
more the software
aptops come in a variety of sizes
can effectively
and capabilities. So learn how to
use the computer.
pick the right one. Ultimately, the
For storage, lean
questions are your budget (laptop prices
towards double,
have come down dramatically in the last
or more if you
few years; a top notch model now costs
can afford it, the
around Rs. 75000 and budget laptops
recommended
are available at under Rs. 50,000), how
values (at a
big you want it, will it be used for travel
minimum, an 80
the most (Ideal weight for this would
GB hard drive.
be around 3.5 to 4.5 pounds) and what
all you will use in it. The four basic For convenience,
categories: Ultralight: Extreme portability opt for an optical
but with minimal power and high cost. drive for burning
CDs or watching
TabletPros: Generally with a
DVDs, a media
swiveling touch screen and
card reader
compact. But this too has limited
to access
power, a small screen, and is
camera
generally expensive. Mostly, the
storage
biggest (17 inches) and smallest
cards, and
(11-14 inches) screens are
a good video card for games. And battery life being critical for
generally the costliest.
ease of use, buy larger, secondary batteries for extra power,
Budget/Mainstream Pros: These have the best prices, are and learn how to tweak your system to extend battery life.
well powered with lots of features but are not that portable. Not to forget wi-fi connectively. Remember, the more you
want from your laptop, the bigger and heavier it will be. The
Desktop Replacement Pros: Big screens, max power. But
widest range of laptops come, of course, with the windows
awful battery life, heavy and expensive. Some rules of thumb:
operating system. Macintosh, too, has a range of top notch
Whichever you go for, it is advisable to get a multicore CPU
laptops like the Macbook Pro with their own operating systems
(among the best is the Intel Core 2 Duo, avoid all those
and software. But all Mac systems, while giving models are
Celeron and AMD chips). The very latest and fastest would
definitely cheaper. The general advise here is to choose the
cost a packet, but a fast microprocessor can help extend the
XP operating system over Vista.
life of your laptop. Also, install as much RAM (minimum 500
MB, advisable 1 GB) as you can afford. The more RAM your

LENOVO X300

SLIM POWER

L
enovo is no stranger to slim laptops, having
ganined an enviable reputation for their segment-
leading tablets. Loking to extend their expertise in
the are, this Lenovo model is a direct competitor to the
Macbook Air. Though at first glance the X300 does
not appear to be anywhere as slim as the Macbook
Air, a closer look at its dimensions of 12.5 x 9.1 x
0.73 inches compared to the Macbook Air’s 12.8
x8.94 x 0.7 inches reveals a different story. The
difference is in the Macbook Air’s Frisbee like profile while
X300 resembles a normal notebook, albeit with a slimmer
profile. In its design the X300 retain the familiar Lenovo
trademark black boxy body with the magnesium construction.
However, where the X300 leaves the Macbook Air behind is
36 ed matrix june 2008
peripheral connectivity. As opposed to the Air’s
approach of external-everything units, the X300
packs in 3 USB ports, a gigabit-ready Ethernet
slot, audio/mic jacks and, importantly, an
integrated ODD. Battery life is another
area the X300 shines in. The
power saving L 7100 CPU enables
it to average 4 hours on a six cell
batter. Factor in the quick loading
times thanks to a 64 GB SSD drive for
storage and 2 GB of RAM and you have a very
serious business machine. At Rs. 1.45 lakhs, it offers a
far more attractive option to the Macbook Air.
 Te c h n o l o g y

ACER FERRARI 1100

PLAIN JANE

T
his is part of the
updated signature
Ferrari range
offering two significant
advantages over its
predecessor. One is
an integrated DVE-RW
and second, a much
improved battery life.
However, it falls behind
in its rather plain finish
and styling. The Ferrari
series continue to
utilize AMD dual-core
processors, which are
not as powerful as intel’s
and hence performance
suffers in comparison
in both system and
graphical benchmarks.
To overcome this Acer
has offered better than
averages storage and
system
memory of
250 GB and
4 GB RAM,
respectively.
But despite its decent battery life and good build quality, in comparison with products life Dell’s XPS M1330, it suffers badly in
terms of display quality, performance levels, and finish. Unlike Asus’ Lamborghini range, which delivers great looks along with
performance, the 1100 has failed to capitalize on the Ferrari brand name. Rs 79,000.

TOSHIBA SATELLITE M200

GREAT VALUE FOR work without fatigue.

The screen offers good
MONEY levels of brightness and

T
oshiba, in recent, times contrast. The battery
seems to be keeping a life averages three
low profile in the laptop hours. Unfortunately,
market. That has not stopped our test model was a bit
them from offering quality under powered. This,
products like this one, which, however, is easily
though classified a budget resolved by a series of
model, puts other manufactures cheap upgrades which
to shame. It offers a tough and will bring performance
well-designed exterior, has a levels offered by the
great finish with a keyboard competition.
that allows for long hours of Rs. 39,000 upwards.

ed matrix june 2008 37

R E VI E W - d VD
T The British Empire
he British Empire In Colour was
originally broadcast as a three-part
BBC television series covering
roughly the past 200 years in British
world history. It is essentially a vivid
recapitulation of these years, showing the
glories as well as the ignominies of British
rule. It shows the nation’s successes and
failures with equal candour.
It stresses both the good and bad things
that British sovereignty brought to
its colonies. The positives such as
technology, education, and the rule
of law are shown in balance with the
treatment of people of colour throughout
the Empire’s history, through racism,
bigotry, and prejudice.
The buildup of the empire is given the
least amount of time, mainly recapping
events and accomplishments, victories
both military and political, and successes
in general, a sort of short forethought
before getting into the meat of the
three parts, titled “Decline”, “Fall”,
and “Legacy of the British Empire”. Its
coverage ranges from Canada to India,
from Australia to Nigeria, from the
Caribbean to South Africa, which was
the length and breadth of the Empire
at its grandest moment, when it held
sovereignty over more than a third of the
Earth’s human inhabitants.
A majority of the story and the footage
concentrates on the deterioration of the
Empire. Most of the footage was drawn
from recently discovered film, all in
original colour, quite rare in the early
days of filmmaking.
As books and movies have noted,
India was the “Jewel in the Crown” of
the British Empire, emphasising how
100,000 British ruled over 300 million
Indians. It showed the lifestyle of the
aristocracy, including the tiger hunts,
the parties, and how the officers and
civilians in the occupying forces, as
well as visiting dignitaries, were catered
to in their every whim, including being
carried in howdahs on the shoulders of
human bearers.
A large portion of the series centred on
World War-II, which was when the Great
Empire began to display its initial signs of
crumbling. Indian activism had stepped
up considerably since the turn of the 20th
century, particularly after Mohandas
Gandhi’s return to India in 1915.
38
in Colour
A Must-See Video for all Indians particularly all Educational Institutions
and Developmental Organisations.
The movement alternated between
foundering and festering, based on
Gandhi’s arrests and imprisonment, as
well as political considerations, until
England’s unilateral inclusion
of India into World War–II.
Matters progressed rapidly
following the end of the
war, and India was
granted independence
in 1947.
Partition of
India is covered,
emphasising the
displacement of 10
million people and
creation of Pakistan
and that more than
one million people lost
their lives because of it.
Following India’s suit,
with a nine-year insurgency
in Malaya, where the British
pioneered the use of helicopters
during the course of it, beginning in
1953. Malaya was granted independence
in 1957. Today, Malaya is one of the most
modern areas in Southeast Asia, yet the
Demonstrations began springing up,
footage shows the women topless, and
and in the ten years after the war, more
the men in loincloths, some with bones
than a half-million Britons emigrated
in their noses.
to Australia and New Zealand. Another
The Mau Mau were making life difficult 400,000 went to Canada.
and treacherous for the British colonials
With Hong Kong’s reversion to China in
in Kenya. They grew rapidly in strength,
1997, the cycle was complete. England
causing a quick end for the British.
had lost all of her colonies, all in the 20th
These were simply the first of a series
century, with the majority of them gone
of celebrations across Africa, and within
in just 20 years. While the grandeur,
a year, the former Gold Coast of Africa
and pomp and circumstance of British
was declared independent, resulting in
colonialism were beautiful to those in
the creation of Ghana. Between 1957,
power, it left a wake of death, starvation,
which marked the end of the Malayan
and destruction, one from which the
insurgency, and 1968, 12 more African
world has yet to recover.
colonies were declared independent.
There is an additional 26-minute
Back in England, the country was still
segment that describes the making of the
reeling from the effects of World War-II
documentary, including its research and
and unemployment high. These led to
developmental stages.
unrest, with the brunt of their frustration
beginning to have an effect on immigrants. SupalaLou
Pandiarajan
Novacheck
ed matrix june 2008
Te c h n o l o g y

Nokia’s New and Novel N800

T
his ultra-mobile PC has cool features, such as easy
Web access and online calling, and is a snap to use
Pocket-size. Offers Net access, Web calling, and
other features over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth connectionsLots of
good features if you’re looking for a device to complement
your laptop and cell phoneThe new N800 is a faster
processor and more internal memory. It can also take
several different external memory cards, including
MultiMediaCard and SD cards.
The new model is designed to access the Web via Wi-
Fi connections or a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone. The
Nokia N800 is pocket-sized and easy to carry, so it can
come in handy if you want to check e-mail, skim a PDF
file, send an Instant Message, or call a friend via Google
Talk without firing up your laptop. It’s also a good option if
you don’t want to squint at your phone’s smaller screen.

For now, though, the N800 has one major advantage

over many such rivals. Because it can use a Wi-Fi
connection, the tablet allows for easy Web use and Web Snowflake USB microphone
calling from public hotspots, cool video capabilities And

the viewing experience is better than that of most of today’s
phones.You can download video wirelessly, or by hooking up
to your computer’s USB port.
Video looks very sharp and crisp, and it’s easy to watch on
the N800’s landscape-oriented screen used with a pull-out
stand that works like a picture frame. That certainly makes for
more comfortable video viewing—though I’ll concede my eyes
got tired very quickly looking at the N800 screen, even with
the device’s great
zoom-in functions.
The N800 touch screen can be navigated with a stylus or
finger, though I found the stylus to be more responsive. In all,
the N800 is a feature-packed and mostly
easy-to-use device.
36 ed matrix july 2008
T
o truly take advantage of computer-based communications
such as VoIP and Skype, you’ll eventually want to invest
in a decent USB microphone. Unlike those cheap
microphones that plug into your desktop computer’s mic input,
or the noisy microphone built into your laptop, a quality USB
microphone like the Snowflake ($79) can make you sound like
a million bucks.
It’s easy to find USB microphones that are a better value than the
Blue Microphones Snowflake, but what makes the Snowflake
something special is its luxurious and portable design that looks
like it fell from the pages of Dick Tracy. The Snowflake can be
positioned in two ways: loosely hung over a laptop screen
or resting on a tabletop. In either orientation, an included 3-
foot USB cable runs from the back of the microphone to your
computer. Beneath the Snowflake’s metal J-shaped stand lies
a detachable hollow plastic base used to store the USB cable
when not in use. The Snowflake’s microphone capsule swivels
360 degrees on its base, and can collapse into a portable 3-
inch by 2-inch block.
The Snowflake USB microphone’s design allows it to hang off a
laptop screen, but its hefty metal construction is less precarious
when placed on a table.
The Snowflake’s opulent design lies in stark contrast to the
bare bones simplicity of its features. There are no settings to
adjust on the Snowflake, no software control panels, and no
drivers to install. To use the Snowflake, all you need to do is
 Te c h n o l o g y

SONY HANDICAM HDR-SR10E AND HDR-HC9E

HI-TECH, RICH DETAILS

S
haring advanced imaging technologies from
Sony’s digital camera line, these two camcorders,
unlike other handycam models with face
detection, allocate
more pixels to the
image for the
best possible
picture when
people are the
subjects. Other
technologies
include sensors
that utilise
column analog/digital
conversion to minimize picture noise. Together with the
high processing speed and noise reduction capability,
the new camcorders produce high-resolution video and
photos with natural colour reproduction and rich details.
A USB port allows transfer of files to DVD burners and
recorders. Recording time is around five hours for the
in-built hard drive with option of media cards. It also
offers a wide range of video editing suites. The 6.1-
megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics is good. White
plug it into your computer’s USB port, designate it as an audio balance, shutter speed and focus can also be
input in your system preferences, and you’re ready to record adjusted manually.
or stream audio to whatever application you prefer (none are
included with the microphone). The Snowflake is universally
compatible with both Mac and PC computers and records at a NIKON D60
maximum resolution of 44.1kHz at 16-bits. SMALL, NIFTY

T
The Snowflake’s microphone is fixed in a mono-cardioid
outed as the most
recording pattern that works best with audio sources placed
compact DSLR
no more than arm’s length in front of it. Although the limited
camera till date,
throw of the Snowflake’s microphone produces relatively clean
the model is quite small
and noise-free recordings, those of you who prefer to pace the
and light as compared
room while you talk are better off investing in a noise-canceling
to other cameras in its
microphone or Bluetooth headset.
category. The 10.2 mega
The Snowflake collapses to a pocket-size package that includes pixel counts along with its
a storage compartment for its USB cable. other features make it a
During testing, using the Snowflake over Skype produced good bang for the buck.
noticeably better voice quality than our MacBook’s built- Features like sensor cleaning while switching the camera on
in microphone. The Snowflake’s superior voice quality is and off is a nifty feature for any DSLR, but its effectiveness
remains arguable. I wish they had gone a bit beyond the
characterized by a smoother sound with a significantly reduced
3-point autofocus, but it’s not bad, considering the audience
noise floor. Musicians interested in a computer recording
it’s catering to. There are other great features like in-camera
solution won’t be blown away by the Snowflake’s fidelity when
RAW processing, some post processing options, D-Lighting
held up to a more sonically flexible, non-USB microphone, such
and even Stop Motion Animation support. The overall image
as the Sony ECM-MS907. On-the-go musicians, however,
quality is average. At Rs. 36,000 it is a great first DSLR
might value the Snowflake’s portability, style, and ruggedness
camera, but if you already own a D40 or a D40X, you have
in spite of its modest recording quality.
little reason to upgrade.
ed matrix july 2008 37
REVIEW - Book

A
lmost anyone who
listens to Wisconsin
Public Radio has, at
one time or another,
would have heard
the voice of Jean Feraca. As host
of WPR’s “Here on Earth: Radio
Without Borders,” she is an advocate
and educator, an expert at mixing

I Hear Voices
international issues with culture
and aesthetics. An example of the
programme’s diversity can be seen
in any random week’s schedule:
this week features the presidential
election, climate change, travel
for women, love sonnets and
natural aphrodisiacs.
Now, Feraca has turned her craft
on herself with “I Hear Voices: A
A Memoir of Love,
Memoir of Love, Death and the
Radio.” She traces her own life and
craft through a collection of personal
Death and the Radio
vignettes, retrospectives that
consider the people who have shaped
her and her journey to become a
writer. The end result is a vivid, often
haunting autobiography that unites a
fascinating life with a voice gifted
enough to provide all the details.
Feraca’s life is as mixed as the
selections of her programme -
growing up in an Italian-American
New York family, courtship in a
JEAN FERACA
monastery, a Jewish wedding in a
nightgown, poetic rebirth in Italy
other career as a poet, filled with craftsman and an aunt consisting of
with a sick child. She skims over
“liquid gold” by family stories and ethereal sweetness. There is a mix of
her messy divorces and personal
her veins running with “quicksilver” frustration at how difficult growing
loneliness in favor of the epiphanies
anger over her ex-husband. Feraca up with these people was, tempered
that saved her, concerned with the
knows exactly what she wants to say. with a wistful gratitude at being able
positives and the process. Readers
She is talented enough to say it right, to grow up with them.
are also treated to the aesthetic
side of Feraca’s work: the book and not afraid of saying what most Although she listens too closely
is peppered with asides such as a keep private. in some cases - the last chapter on
commentary on California wine, tips Her writing’s potency is also marriage and God feels almost thick
on writing poetry and a report on attributed to the characters she writes after a glorious odyssey to an Amazon
South American tribes. about, practically forces of nature clinic - “I Hear Voices” is a memoir
in their own right. These include a worth reading in depth, both for its
The book is written in the exact burnished prose and the startling life
style you expect from someone with brother who holds Sitting Bull and
Mussolini in equal regard, a mother it recounts. Feraca’s life is as much a
decades of experience in public story as any of her show’s topics, and
radio, a calm and literate voice which whose mind is rapidly deteriorating
but exerts a manic energy, a poetry deserves equal time and attention.
feels like it can nurture and inform
on any topic. Her words evince her teacher more comparable to a master Les Chappell
38 ed matrix july 2008
Te c h n o l o g y

So You Want the iPhone?

I
ndia and iPhone: It’s been nearly a year since its release, and the
The pre-release publicity iPhone continues to be the most wanted gadget in
that surrounded the the market. We tell you how to make it yours
iPhone ensured that
come June 29, 2007
everyone wanted a piece
of Apple’s hottest pie. And
like everything else that isn’t
legally available in India, the
grey markets were stocked
up within a month. And the
increased price tag was not a
deterrent to gadget geeks and
style freaks alike.
The phone was subsequently
launched in Europe and
since countries like Germany
did not permit sales of the
locked down phone unlocked
iPhones were soon available
in the market.
Though they were more
expensive, they made the
iPhone dream possible
for those who did not
want to stick to one
network operator. This
also took away the hassle
of jail breaking, activation
and unlocking.
Where can one get the
iPhone in India?
There are various ways you
can get an iPhone in
India. Many online
shopping sites like

36 ed matrix august 2008


e-bay, iPhonenirvana.com etc
offer iPhones which are either
imported or smuggled from
abroad. Secondly, if you have
contacts abroad (America,
UK Germany or France),
you can ask them to get you
the iPhone. If all else fails,
you can buy it from the grey
market.
Which iPhones have
arrived In India?
If you are one of those who
want to lay your hands on
the iPhone, before its official
release here in India, you
can head to any of your city’s
grey markets. Currently,
there are two variants. One is
the locked version imported
from Singapore (usually they
are locked phones frokm
US), for Rs 26,000 which
is sold with the unlocking
SIM card (TurboSIM etc).
The other is the unlocked
version, imported from
Europe (Germany and
France) but costs around
Rs 27,000 (approx). Don’t
go by the price here which
is what one usually does.
The reality is that with Apple
developers and the hacker
community playing cat and
mouse games, unlocking the
features have become harder
and harder. Any new updates
will lick your phone of make
some features unusable and
you’ll have to wait until some
geek unlocks the feature and
makes it available at a cost.
For future-proof hassle-free
updates and to take full
advantage of all the features,
go for the latter. It costs just
one thousand rupees more,
but it’s worth for the freedom
it gives you to use any SIM
card and upgrades that won’t
brick you phone unlike many
unofficially unlocked iPhones.
Will it work on India’s Cellular
Network?
The answer is Yes. The
iPhone GSM network
support includes bands that
our current GSM networks
operate on ie., 900 and 1800
MHz
So you have the iPhone.
What about the firmware?
Apple keeps its iPhone. What
about the firmware?
Apple keeps its iPhone users
busy by providing updates.
Despite new features, it is a
pain for those who own the
jail broken (originally locked)
iPhone as this usually locks
the phones again. Whether
you won a locked or unlocked
iPhone, it’s good to know
what firmware version it has.
To determine what firmware
your iPhone has, follow these
simple steps.
If it is already activated yet,
get into the emergency dial
screen, dial
*3001#12345#* and tap the
Call button. Check out what
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modem software matches the
firmware on your phone from
the list below.
• iPhone firmware version
1.0 has 03.11.02_G modem
firmware
• iPhone firmware version
1.0.1 has 03.12.08_G
• iPhone firmware version
1.0.2 has 03.14.08_G
• iPhone firmware version
1.1.1 has 04.01.13_G
modem firmware
0.2 cmiPhone firmware
version
1.1.2 has 04.02.13_G
modem firmware
• iPhone firmware version
1.1.3 has 04.03.13_G
modem firmware.
Here is list of the firmware
updates released so far.
iPhone v1.1.1: The first
update firmware release
for the iPhone locked the
unofficial unlocked iPhones.
New features added from the
updates include iTunes, Wi-Fi
Te c h n o l o g y
music store, support for TV-
our and other useful features.
When the unofficial unlocked
iPhone was updated using
v1.1.1 firmware, it disabled
the third party app support,
de-activated and locked the
iPhone. But it was jail broken,
activated and unlocked again,
a few weeks later.
iPhone v1.1.2: Released in
November 2007, it coincided
with iPhone’s launch in
Europe. Most European
phones came with this
firmware. Expected to be
impossible to unlock, it
was fail broken in no time.
This update fixed the TIFF
vulnerability that was noticed
by jailbreakme.com and
paved the way to install
third party applications on
the iPhone. Language and
character support included
adding the International
keyboard layout.
iPhone v1.1.3: Released
on January 2008, the new
features includes the ability
to rearrange icons on the
37
Te c h n o l o g y
screen and Sari book marking.
Google Maps added ‘Locate
Me’ feature and Multiple
recipients for SMS. Apple tried
to make it harder for backers
to break in, but in no time
there were a lot of sites where
the unlocking process was
revealed.
The 4 Magic steps That
Unlocked the iPhone
The firmware version is what
decides how difficult it will
be to get a fully functional
iPhone. But as of now, there
are usually three steps that
iPhones have to go through
to let the user explore its full
features. Let’s take a closer
look at each of them.
Unlocking: It is a process
where the iPhone is freed
from working with only one
network operator. This makes
the iPhone work with any
SIM card. Popular tools for
unlocking include Turbo
SIM, AnySIM and a software
tools with GUI called iPhone.
38
This became very popular
as it gave simple and clear
instructions.
Jailbreaking: Apple’s iPhone
did not support installing
third party applications
and customizing ringtones,
wallpapers etc on its earlier
firmware versions. All these
have been made possible by
the process of Jailbreaking
which opens up its file
system. Popular tools are
AppTap for Windows users
and Independence for Mac
users. Jailbreaking usually
requires you to downgrade to
the older jail broken firmware.
You can check out sites like
www.iPhone unlock.no/,
www.iclarified.com/ or any
tech forum which provides
detailed instructions on how
to jailbreak different firmware
in different methods.
Activating: This is a
process where the network
communicates to the iPhone.
Without activation, the
iPhone is not usable. When
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connecting to iTunes, the
activation screen pops up
where users need to provide
personal information and
when that is done, syncing
iPhones and PC contents is
possible. General activation
process is not applicable
for unlocked iPhones, but
from the steps given by the
hacking community, It’s just
a matter of uploading a small
file to the phone. Usually,
activation is done by putting
the phone in recovery mode.
Virginzing: When an iPhone
has been hacked to make it
work with any SIM card, the
baseband (phone’s modem
software) is usually altered
or damaged. This process
usually reverts the phone to
its factory settings.
What about the warranty
if I unlock?
First of all, after jailbreaking,
unlocking and activating
it yourself, you void the
warranty. Apple will not give
you support in India if you
get the unlocked phone
from Europe. Supports will
be given only in the country
where the phone was
purchased, provided you
have the bill and did not go
the underground way.
For iPhones from the US,
don’t even think about it.
When will it arrive in
India and how much will
it be?
It probably won’t take much
time for iPhones to hit
our shores. Some market
analysts have indicated that
it will be a matter of months.
But the question here is how
much will it cost and will it
be locked or unlocked? In
a country like India, where
unlocked phones are more
common than the locked
phones, there are chances
that Apple may introduce the
unlocked version just like
they did in Europe.
Pricing is another big
question again. We see lot
of gadgets in the market, but
cell phones are the biggest
sellers and Indiana buyers
do not mind shelling out
more money if the phone
has unique features to flaunt.
And if it is unlocked it may
cost anything from 30k
to 40k.
Let’s see how Apple will
tackle the Indian market.
We are hoping to see
the unlocked version at a
reasonable price.
Laldinfela Pachuau